>That's a good point...what year did they write those
>songs? "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
An aging Who fan wades in; Townshend supposedly wrote those words in 1967, although they didn't turn up on record until 'Who's Next' in 1971 on 'Won't Get Fooled Again'.
>could correctly have reflected the sentiment of the
>movement when it could not find any way forward...it
>was stuck with a choice between reformism or
>stalinism...between George McGovern or Bob Avakian
>(here in the US).
Well, if you take the year they were written as irrelevant (and only a marker of Townshends' alleged prescience) that would be an optimistic analysis. I always took it that Townshend saw 'The Movement' as dead and he just wanted to get out in one piece; 'If I happen to be left half alive' and that all that was left were burnouts and Zombies 'I take all my papers and smile at the sky, for I know that the hypnotized never lie (Do ya?)'. (paraphrase, not execat quotes)
BTW, I don't see Tommy as the alienated individual. 'Quadrophenia' is serious alienation, at the end Tommy is redeemed by his engagement with his followers after they reject him. Ignore the Ken Russell film, it's a prolonged bad acid trip that misses the point. Although Ann Margaret and Tina Turner do look pretty good.............At the end of Quadrophenia Jimmy’s dead and the scooter is smashed.
Speaking of alienating experiences, Townshends’ recent efforts at reviving The Who are just embarrassing.
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